Crab Soup

- Soak the crabs in clean water for 30 minutes so the mud comes out. Then rinse them in salt water to get rid of dirt and parasites.
- Pull the top shells off the bodies by hand and set them aside to remove the roe later.
- Remove and discard the aprons from the bodies, as they're dirty. Pound the cleaned crab bodies in a mortar, or grind them in a blender.
- Add half a spoonful of salt and a large bowl of water to the ground crab, squeeze gently with your hands, then strain carefully, keeping the crab liquid and discarding the solids.
- Use a small stick to scrape the roe from the top shells into a bowl.

- Pick the stems off the jute leaves, wash them and soak in a basin of diluted salt water for about 20 minutes, then rinse again and chop finely.
- Peel the luffa, wash it and cut into bite-sized pieces.

- Pour all the crab liquid into a pot and simmer over low heat for 3 minutes.
- Then add the jute leaves and Malabar spinach. Finally, add the roe from the crab shells to the soup.
- While you wait, you can fry some shallots and garlic until fragrant.